BJJ Worlds' History

Renzo Gracie as referee watches Amaury Bitetti raises Gurgel on his guard. Since his teammate Liborio wouldn’t fight him in the final, the victory over Gurgel granted him the first open-class title.

Making history
The tale of the first-ever black-belt Jiu-Jitsu world champions

The warm-up area has a few athletes in it. On the mat, Ricardo Liborio gives his opponent, Remco Pardoel, the evil eye, who gives it right back. Short and stocky, the one considered, at the time, by master Carlson Gracie to be his best fighter looked even smaller with his knees bent. The posture helped avoid the Dutchman's takedowns. Tijuca Tenis Clube is hot during the summer in Rio. Close to four thousand people on the bleachers stand in applause as“Liba” wraps his legs around his opponent’s waist and moves them all the way up till he traps Pardoel’s left arm. It’s another Brazilian victory. One more.

The first World Jiu-Jitsu Championship was held on the first weekend of February 1996, in Rio. Fighters from nine countries were present: Brazil, USA, France, Japan, Holland, Switzerland, UAE, Italy and Cuba. The struggle to bring the foreign fighters was greater than Liborio’s struggle described above. After all, besides Brazil and the USA, Jiu-Jitsu was taking its first steps around the world. Informational access was very difficult, since the Internet was still developing as a publicity tool. Still, a bunch of fighters came and some even managed to obtain good results (mainly in the blue-belt category). From Brazil, the best were enrolled – just as in the years that followed.

It’s Sunday, February 3rd, black-belt day. The ambiance is very different from today. There are few fights on the way to the title and a lot of respect and silence in the stands. Helio Moreira, aka Sonequinha, opens the afternoon against Otavio Couto, aka Ratinho. Soneca’s victory takes place in a very tight fight with an unusual attack to the back that makes the crowd cheer for the first time. Soneca's head rests on the ground, as he hangs by Ratinho’s collar, and moves just like a compass would draw a curve around his opponent from one side to the other. He would later name the move “around the world.”

As the world keeps spinning, other black-belts qualify for the finals. Royler Gracie beats Marcus Aurelio with authority in revenge for the last Brazilian championship. Before the final against Vinicius Draculino, Royler overcomes Joao Roque in another great fight. Jamelao, in the middleweight, sends a JJ legend home: Sergio Penha, who had returned to competition nearly 15 years after a memorable fight against Rickson Gracie in a Rio State championship. Some brackets were interrupted before important battles happened. This was because at two in the afternoon it would start airing live on TV.

Roleta gets Wallid’s back and Sergio Inacio signals four points (above).

Live History
Right at the beginning of the broadcasting, Wallid Ismail shows up at the fighting area. He is the most famous JJ fighter to not carry the Gracie name. His opponent in the semifinal of the light-heavyweight category is Roberto Magalhães, aka Roleta, who received the black belt only four days before the competition. “If I lose it I’ll cut my hand off,” promises the man from Amazonas. Maybe Wallid was prepared for JJ fighters, but not for “weird-jitsu” fighters. Even so, for more than nine minutes, it looked like Ismail had no chance of failing. But, seconds from the end, Roleta’s strange leverage finally works and he takes Wallid’s back, earning him the four points to put him among the best in the world.


Murillo Bustamante vs. Fabio Gurgel. It’s strange that two of the greatest heavyweight black-belts of the last decade had fought only once before that final. In fact, the frequency of clashes was considerably less than it is today. Gurgel, who was defeated in 1993, takes his chance and, with a takedown and a pass of the guard, wins the final 5-0.


Gurgel tries to pass Bustamante’s guard to get the heavyweight gold.

In another payback for1993, Ricardo Liborio goes after the only guy to have ever defeated him, back when both were brown-belts – Leonardo Castelo Branco. The motivation is great and the reward is won. One takedown, one near mount and the victory for Carlson’s fighter.


Soneca is the super-featherweight champion after beating Wellington Megaton; Royler conquers the featherweight by defeating Draculino; and Roberto Gordo gets the middleweight gold against Jamelao. In the super-heavyweight, Ze Mario Sperry takes the gold without fighting due to a shoulder injury suffered by Roberto Traven. Paulo Barroso got the lightweight title in the final against teammate Renato Barreto. Barreto had gotten to the final after not fighting Saulo Ribeiro, who later would become the fighter with more world championships in different years at black belt (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002).

 
Amaury absolute
After his victory over Wallid, Roleta still had one more thing to do in order to complete his mission. He would face Luis Bebeo in the final for the light-heavyweight gold. He says: “It was a great to celebrate beating Ismail but what I really wanted was to conquer the title, to be recognized by it and not only by that one win. So, I didn’t allow myself to get influenced by the crowd. I went back to the stands and focused. I had to get ready for yet another very tough fight against Bebeo, another highly recognized fighter at the time. Nevertheless, I think he got scared and I eventually got him in a triangle choke.”


That was the pace of that day – not counting the inaccuracy caused by time – until Liborio stepped on the mat to beat Pardoel for the open-class category. The result qualified Liborio to face Amaury Bitetti, who had just beat Fabio Gurgel in the semifinals.
The registry of the fight is vague. Bitetti gets the title with a good base and always fighting from above. The fight has little action but it does not matter. Bitetti is the first black-belt absolute world champion.


In the back, Bebeo celebrates in the back his advance to the light-heavyweight final while Ricardo Americano argues with the referee.





Royler grips Shaolin by the foot to conquer the featherweight.

Bitetti and Royler...
… sail easy in a worlds’ marked by transition, WOs and a world-class blooper

The referee raises Bitetti’s arm. Master Osvaldo Alves shoots over to embrace the two-time open-weight champion who, with his turned away from the scene, kneels to give thanks for the title right at the moment Osvaldo is flying over him and landing hard on the mat. It is likely no one filmed or photographed the most memorable scene of the 1997 Worlds’. There was laughter in the crowd even though the stands were not as packed as on the night of July 27th, when Amaury Bitetti and Fabio Gurgel decided the open-weight title.

The fight was better than the one the year before. The outcome was the same: victory for Bitetti. He stayed on top and tried to pass Gurgel’s guard. Bitetti won not by points but by referee decision. The score changed in the semifinal that put the two great names of the championship face to face  – Bitetti and Royler Gracie. In this clash, Royler looked to fight on top but was soon surprised by a takedown that cost him the two points that took away his chance of getting to the final. Bitetti chose not to fight in his weight category and was helped by Nino Shembri’s forfeiting. Nino left the venue and the open-weight dispute after his defeat to Saulo Ribeiro in the middleweight final. So, while Amaury had fought once, Royler had to defeat six guys to get to the absolute semifinals – including his featherweight division.


He submitted Luis Amigo and Otavio Ratinho; defeated Alexandre Soca by points and, in the best fight of the entire black-belt category, got the gold against Vitor Shaolin. Among the heavier fighters, Royler beat Arthur Ignarra and Leo Dalla before stopping at Amaury.

Forfeits were a common thing in the main category that year. Some athletes, after fighting in their weight categories, would lose the drive to keep fighting. Three years later, the IBJJF would move the open-weight dispute to Saturday, solving the problem. But it didn’t solve the issue of Ze Mario Sperry, who saved Fabio Gurgel from fighting in the semifinal. He had beaten Saulo and then Roberto Gordo. Against Gordo, Sperry came the closest to a defeat in his sporting career up until that moment. Exhausted, Sperry dropped out of the bracket after the fight against Gordo.


At least two main characters in the black belt division that year did not appear in the open-weight dispute. Marcio Feitosa and Leonardo Vieira, finalists in the lightweight category. In the years to come, Vitor Shaolin joined them and the three offered the crowd classic fights in the division. In ’97, Feitosa came out victorious.


A big name in ’96, Roberto Roleta once again branded his name on the competition when he conquered the light-heavyweight division along with Roberto Gordo.



Interview – Ricardo Liborio



Liborio: “After that Worlds’ we saw that Jiu-Jitsu was sellable and could go on TV”

In the first and only Worlds’ where the most technical fighters for each belt was elected, Ricardo Liborio was almost the unanimous choice among black-belts. What does that title mean to you?

I was part of a generation that made history. Among other factors, because it was one of the first. So I consider that title to be very special and I am very proud of it, even today. It was important not only because the first Worlds’ was the first big championship ever organized. And it ended up being the only title of most technical fighter. After us, no one else was elected.

What do you think made the biggest impression in the jury?

For sure it was the fact that I submitted five of my six opponents that day, if I’m not mistaken. The only one I could not submit was Leo Castello Branco, in the open-class semifinal. And also the fact that the submissions occurred against much heavier guys like judoka Marcelo Figueiredo and Dutchman Remco Pardoel, in an armbar. That made the difference.

What was the most memorable moment for you in that Worlds’?

I was a skinny guy fighting in a much heavier category. I enrolled in it because I wanted to fight Leo Castello Branco. That was my mission in that Worlds’. He was the only guy to beat me back in 1993 so I had to fight him again. I knew I could beat him so I worked really hard and defeated him. It was a takedown or a sweep, I don’t remember exactly. That was indeed the most memorable moment for me. Nowadays, I consider Leo one of the nicest guys and he is one of the guys I respect the most. We’ve become great friends.

Even though you were the most technical, you didn’t walk out with the open-weight title because you gave it away in favor of your teammate Amaury Bitetti. Do you consider yourself champion as well?

What happened was that I had already won my weight division so when I beat Castello Branco in the semifinals it was decided that the title would be Amaury’s. It wouldn’t make sense to win both and in no way I consider myself open-class champion. That title is Amaury’s. That would be taking away his merit.

After that Worlds’, you never fought again. Why was that?

I already had other things in sight for my life. I was working as a desk manager in the Bank of Brazil and that job took a lot of my time. I couldn’t make time to train properly.

What has changed since the first Worlds’?

There weren’t many championships when we started. It was a time where you had guys like Bustamante, Royler and Gurgel and there was only one championship a year. It was called “Armazem do Esporte.” Nowadays the frequency of competitions is amazing. The first Worlds’ was a huge thing, with live TV coverage and all. It was then that we realized that Jiu-Jitsu had potential to grow and to spread around the globe. We saw that there were conditions for it to be a highly organized sport that could be televised with no problem. It attracted sponsors and was very sellable.   


Interview  - Wallid Ismail



Wallid: “Back then, whoever lost was through”

The most memorable fight of the 1996 Worlds’ was your defeat to Roberto Roleta. How do you see it now?

That Worlds’ was crazy. I always had that psycho mentality – win, win, win. But, with 20 seconds left on the clock, I lost. I remember the newspapers the day after: “Wallid’s undefeated streak is over.” Before that I had never lost as a black-belt. So, I remember it as though it were today. I lifted my head and went to receive my little 3rd-place trophy.

How was your trajectory in the championship on the way to that sweep?

First I beat a guy from Sao Paulo. Then it was him already. We had only five black belts fighting for the title. It was the rivalry that really motivated me. The crowd was singing and I was winning with only 20s to go. But he got that sweep and went for my back. So I said, congratulations to him. Everybody saw the kind of value I gave to the sport. I was never a talented guy but hardly anybody trained as hard as I did.

What would you do differently in that fight?

It’s easy to talk now. If I had gotten up the fight would have ended because I had the advantage of a half-guard. But it’s easy to talk now. I really hope he got the most from that victory. That’s what I used to do with all my victories. I would take all the profits from each one of them.

Why was the ’96 Worlds’ your last gi competition?

After that, I started with MMA and so I no longer had time for all that training with no money at the end of the day. Nevertheless I fought for the last time in gi against Royce in Copacabana.

What has changed in the Worlds’ since then?

Back in my days, if you lost a fight that was it for you. You were over. Nowadays, the guy loses or wins and it’s all the same. No one celebrated their victories more than I did. But, on the other hand, no one was more teased than me when I was defeated.

See Also:
BJJ Worlds' history - 2nd chapter

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